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Petroleum Refinery Stripped Sour Water Treatment Using the Activated Sludge Process
Author(s) -
Merlo Rion,
Gerhardt Matthew B.,
Burlingham Fran,
De Las Casas Carla,
Gill Everett,
Flippin T. Houston
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143011x12989211841133
Subject(s) - activated sludge , effluent , refinery , waste management , chemical oxygen demand , oil refinery , nitrification , wastewater , sewage treatment , aeration , environmental science , sludge bulking , pulp and paper industry , pilot plant , biochemical oxygen demand , mixed liquor suspended solids , chemistry , environmental engineering , nitrogen , engineering , organic chemistry
A pilot study was performed over 91 days to determine if the activated sludge process could treat a segregated stripped sour water (SSW) stream from a petroleum refinery. The study was performed in two periods. The first period was terminated after 19 days, as a result of excessive sludge bulking. The elimination of sludge bulking during the 70‐day second period is attributed to operational changes, which included aerating the influent to oxidize reduced sulfur, adjusting the influent pH, and adding micronutrients to satisfy biological requirements. The pilot plant provided a chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of up to 93%. Nitrification was achieved, with effluent ammonia values <1 mg‐N/L. These results indicate that direct treatment of SSW with the activated sludge process is possible and has direct application to full‐scale petroleum refinery wastewater plant upgrades.